Graham Forest || Watch

Rumor has it that Graham Forest sits cross-legged on the ground while entertaining Native American children, strumming his guitar and spinning tall tales. It’s also suggested that Graham Forest lives in a trailer in the forests of, um, Fresno, and his quarters are overrun with marionette parts, leatherworking tools and ancient mortar holes. Graham Forest, it is said, hones his powers from the Indian burial ground and nonworking satellite dish that his backyard comprises. Whether all this is true or not, the mostly unknown yet easily embraced Central Valley Neil Diamond known as Graham Forest possesses a wholesome goodness that is greatly appreciated amid much of the F Yeah Fest’s chaos. – LA Weekly

with
Traffique
George Ellias || Listen
Hand

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Los Angeles trio the Delta Mirror say they’re of a mind with bands like the Big Pink and Fuck Buttons, acts bent simultaneously toward shoegaze and electronics. But the DM is less expansive and less noisy, respectively, than those acts: Their debut LP Machines That Listen is downcast and down-tempo, heartfelt and brooding, immersive and swirling. It’s also gorgeous and incredibly repeatable. The beats are savvy. They glitch and break unpredictably, tricks the trio’s Craig Gordon and David Bolt no doubt picked up while working in their hip-hop project prior to this one. Lyrically, each song takes place in a different room of a hospital; it’s an emotional and conceptual palette that mirrors the Antlers’ Hospice. There are three voices at play, including bassist Karrie K’s, but it’s a gothy baritone that pushes most of the songs, registering like Interpol’s Paul Banks discovering IDM and M83. You should hear the whole record, but start with the gem “He Was Worse Than The Needle He Gave You.” You can grab it below, along with the premiere of its beat-flipped, upticked remix which, true to the band’s hip-hop roots, is filed by anticon dude Alias. And cap it all with a listen of “A Room For Waiting,” patiently post-rock in its piano-tinkling, exquisitely textured, a good example of the Delta Mirror’s ability to blend beats to phrases that become scenery-setting mantras: “You tell me to be patient because I’m not the only one but tell me how many were before me / how many were before me tell me how many were before me…” Great stuff. – Stereogum

With:
Afghan Raiders || Listen
Healamonster & Tarsier || Listen

8:30pm / $8 / 21+

WHISPERING PINES || Listen

“Lucky for me on this pleasant Southern California evening I arrived on time to catch the opening act Whispering Pines, perhaps named after the consummate Richard Manuel track off the second Band record. I was taken by surprise right from the start when they kicked off their set with what sounded to me like a missing track from Honky Tonk Heroes. A great mix of rock culture’s pleasures – loud music, wreckless demeanor – and country’s more precise discipline and tradition. Their poise and swagger was like that of a cross country touring band just back from 2 months on the road – effortless, awe-inspiring, and tight as nails. Song after song I was pleasantly surprised by their exceptional musical abilities from breezy west coast harmonies to blistering southern rock guitar licks, to hip shaking drum and bass grooves to blazing harp solos. A really nice blend of tunes with 4 out of the 5 members sharing vocal duties. The final kicker was a barn burning version of JJ Cale’s classic tune Crazy Mama. If my eyes were shut I’d think I was at the Fillmore East listening to the Allman Brothers. These guys are definitely blazing their own trail, keeping roots rock alive and well, and leaving behind a cloud of desperado dust for those who dare to follow.” N. Taylor

with:
WELLDIGGERS BANQUET
BROTHERS IN THE GRASS (brian whelan and ross flournoy)

8:30pm / $10 / 21+

The Gories || Watch

Formed in January of 1986 over a six pack of Budweiser and “Scum of the Earth” on the record player. Played dives around Detroit for six and a half years with a couple of trips to New York City and Chicago. Released three LPs and a handful of singles. Toured Europe in the Spring of ‘92. Broke up.

With:
Haunted George || Listen
Nice Smile

8:30pm / $20 advance, $22 day of show / 21+

True, unapologetic modern rock and roll with folk influences, Eastern Conference Champions is a bit unique in their approach, tweaking their style from track to track. At times they highlight the “let the choir sing” angle (if only with their instruments), while at other times they work the subtle backbone component that is percussion. Smart music for a generation that’s been ready for it. – Beat Crave

ECC are set to make a comeback, as we highlight the strength of this 5 song EP and their recent inclusion on the Twilight: Eclipse soundtrack. The group beat out over 400 bands for that gig! What you will find on Santa Fe is that the trio has definitely grown in sound, as they have a much more focused and complete rock foundation that ebbs, flows and builds larger sound structures. This is all good news, as we anticipate their new full length Speak-Ahh slated for release this fall. Santa Fe is merely a good catch up of where they have been and won’t disappoint! – The Fire Note

With:
Two Years Before The Mast || Listen
Rabbits Rabbits Rabbits
The Shivas || Listen

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Crooked Fingers || Listen || Watch

Crooked Fingers fans who enjoyed Eric Bachmann’s 2006, bare-bones acoustic To the Races LP, yet yearned for the kind of heavily orchestrated, E Street Band-fueled Americana that graced 2003′s Red Devil Dawn and 2005′s Dignity and Shame, will no doubt be pleased by Forfeit/Fortune. Picking right up where Shame left off, Bachmann, along with an all-star cast of characters which includes longtime collaborators as well as indie rock stalwarts like Brian Kotzur (Silver Jews), Tom Hagerman (DeVotchKa), and Neko Case blow through an 11-song set of dusty, horn-laden, highway driving, drink-spilling heartache that stands as the group’s most solid piece of work to date. Opener “What Never Comes,” a fully loaded showstopper that comes on like a cross between David Bowie’s “Heroes” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” sets the pace, and from there it’s an unusually wild ride from a bandleader who often favors straight-to-tape authenticity over studio experimentation. Funky instrumentation and wild percussion abound throughout, especially on the cool and visceral “Luisa’s Bones,” an old-timey tale filtered through a digital water bag. “Cannibals,” a straight-up power pop nugget that could have peen peeled off the back of the first Cheap Trick album, also impresses, but it’s Forfeit/Fortune’s final two tracks, the mesmerizing, anthem worthy “Modern Dislocation” and its equally rousing counterpart “Your Control” — the latter a duet with Neko Case — that seal the deal. – All Music

With:

Mynabirds || Listen
Ian Cooke || Listen

8:30pm / $10 advance, $12 day of show/ 21+

Modern Time Machines || Listen || Watch

Ben Golomb is a familiar figure on the Silver Lake scene and an ardent supporter of his fellow L.A. musicians. He’s also the first guy to tell you that a prime inspiration for his continuing to make music has been the Silversun Pickups — if not artistically, then the local heroes’ personality and sticktoitiveness. As Modern Time Machines, Golomb, along with Chanda Dancy, Dean Estrella and Nicole Smith, is working toward carving out his own sonic space. Fans of Swervedriver, Medicine and that other band with the initials SP should take note. – Buzzbands LA

With:
Hexham Heads || Listen
The Meeting Places || Listen
Seasons || Listen

8:30pm / $5 / 21+

That DNA runs deep through the rough hewn “Demon Tied To A Chair,” “Didn’t Know Yet” and “Radiation Blues,” all of which will strike warm familiar notes with the deadboy contingent, though they may be a bit more on the muscular side. Those wading deeper in however are in for some pleasant surprises: Dax’s vocals straining to more passionate extremes on “Terrors of Nightlife” and “Ouroboros,” the ragtag assortment of musical misfits helping Dax bring some serious glam rave-up to “Living is Suicide” and “I Forgot I Was Alive,” a complete curveball cover of Richard Thompson’s “Wall Of Death,” and, yes, a few more nods to the deadboy faithful in the form of “Scarlett Of Heaven Nor Hell” and “Dog-Headed Whore” before the album collapses upon itself, spent but still mustering the final throes of “dethbryte” (chopped and screwed by Andrew W.K.).

All told, We Sing Of Only Blood Or Love is Dax Riggs stepping out as a markedly grown up deadboy–a work imbued with newfound vitality, intensity and maturity, yet one that still begs anyone’s best guess as to where things go from here. deadboy is undead, long live Dax Riggs. We hope.

With:
Useless Keys || Listen
Boll Weevil

8:30pm / $13 advance, $15 day of show/ 21+

That DNA runs deep through the rough hewn “Demon Tied To A Chair,” “Didn’t Know Yet” and “Radiation Blues,” all of which will strike warm familiar notes with the deadboy contingent, though they may be a bit more on the muscular side. Those wading deeper in however are in for some pleasant surprises: Dax’s vocals straining to more passionate extremes on “Terrors of Nightlife” and “Ouroboros,” the ragtag assortment of musical misfits helping Dax bring some serious glam rave-up to “Living is Suicide” and “I Forgot I Was Alive,” a complete curveball cover of Richard Thompson’s “Wall Of Death,” and, yes, a few more nods to the deadboy faithful in the form of “Scarlett Of Heaven Nor Hell” and “Dog-Headed Whore” before the album collapses upon itself, spent but still mustering the final throes of “dethbryte” (chopped and screwed by Andrew W.K.).

All told, We Sing Of Only Blood Or Love is Dax Riggs stepping out as a markedly grown up deadboy–a work imbued with newfound vitality, intensity and maturity, yet one that still begs anyone’s best guess as to where things go from here. deadboy is undead, long live Dax Riggs. We hope.

With:
Useless Keys || Listen
Boll Weevil

8:30pm / $13 advance, $15 day of show/ 21+

Queen Caveat || Watch

With:
Tarantula
Super Black Market || Listen
Intricate Machines || Listen
Colin Tyler

8:30pm / $10 / 21+

True, unapologetic modern rock and roll with folk influences, Eastern Conference Champions is a bit unique in their approach, tweaking their style from track to track. At times they highlight the “let the choir sing” angle (if only with their instruments), while at other times they work the subtle backbone component that is percussion. Smart music for a generation that’s been ready for it. – Beat Crave

ECC are set to make a comeback, as we highlight the strength of this 5 song EP and their recent inclusion on the Twilight: Eclipse soundtrack. The group beat out over 400 bands for that gig! What you will find on Santa Fe is that the trio has definitely grown in sound, as they have a much more focused and complete rock foundation that ebbs, flows and builds larger sound structures. This is all good news, as we anticipate their new full length Speak-Ahh slated for release this fall. Santa Fe is merely a good catch up of where they have been and won’t disappoint! – The Fire Note

With:
Aria Pullman Band
The Color Turning || Listen
Death Kit || Listen

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Shonen Knife || Listen || Watch

There’s a certain novelty in hearing a petite Japanese girl state her admiration for British 1970s heavy metallers Richie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio, and then watching her demure band grind through a loud, sludgy pastiche of that genre. J-Pop trio Shonen Knife aren’t some kind of novelty act though, they’re a first-rate pop group in their own right. For nearly 30 years, this band have been mashing Western rock, punk and girl group styles together with their own Osakan aesthetic. Introduced to a transatlantic audience by the patronage of hipster outfits like Nirvana and Sonic Youth, the Knife’s approach has remained fresh over the band’s career – as has their last remaining founder member, singer and guitarist Naoko Yamano, who will be 50 this year but could easily pass for half that.

Showcasing songs from their last but one album Super Group (the last, Free Time, hasn’t yet been released in the UK) and wearing the colourful tunic-and-trousers uniforms from its cover, the band played a set characterised by manic, gleeful energy. Bassist Ritsuko Taneda grinningly devil-horned every other song, recently-drafted drummer Emi Morimoto leaped on to her seat to top off a human pyramid shape during the rumbling Pyramid Power, and Yamano introduced an encore cover of Wings’ Jet as being “by one of my favourite artists”. It was both loveable and glorious, much like her band. – Scotsman

With:
Puro Instinct (formerly Pearl Harbor) || Listen
Neverever

8:30pm / $12 advance, $14 day of show / 21+

Radio Moscow || Listen || Watch

When we first discovered Radio Moscow, we were all immediately floored by the guitar playing of Parker Griggs. For those unfamiliar with the story, Parker went to a Black Keys show and handed a demo to Dan Auerbach. Auerbach loved it and subsequently produced the Radio Moscow debut.

While their eponymous debut is excellent (#29 in the HearYa top 50 of 2007), it has a rough feel to it. Parker played most of the parts on the album himself and it came across as a one man project. In contrast, on Brain Cycles, Radio Moscow is a much more cohesive band. After listening to the album a few times, there are three things that really make this a more complete and balanced effort:

1. Parker’s vocals. On the first album, the vocals sometimes seemed as if they were just filling room between blistering guitar solos. Griggs is a guitar prodigy so it works, but on Brain Cycles, Parker is more confident as a front man and has some swagger.
2. The rhythm section is staggering. They move in lockstep with Parker while pulling off some of their own crazy shit. As I mentioned in my SXSW recap, Zach Anderson on bass has made tremendous strides and is every bit the equal to Parker.
3. On the debut, the songwriting was about showcasing Parker’s guitar work, which was fine by me. But Brain Cycles shows a more mature effort in his songwriting.

A couple of my favorites include “Broke Down” that has a Sabbath inspired riff and “No Good Woman,” complete with 90 second drum solo by Parker (it actually kind of works).

Radio Moscow is growing up, but they don’t abandon their blues-psychedelic sound that is sure to fuel bong circles in smoky dorm rooms all over college campuses. – HearYa

with:
Night Horse || Listen
The Shrine

8:30pm / $8 advance, $10 day of show / 21+

The Parson Red Heads || Listen || Watch

If you’ve spent any time in the Silver Lake/Echo Park axis over the last half decade, chances are you’ve seen the Parson Red Heads. They’re hard to miss, an all-white-costumed crew who have, over the years, swelled to as many as eight people, looking like a cross between Danielson Famile and the Partridge Family, and playing sun-soaked and serene tunes that touched on the Beachwood Sparks and the usual Laurel Canyon suspects (The Byrds, Fleetwood Mac, CSNY).

Their live shows ran the gamut between drowsy folk-tinged acoustic sets and unruly psychedelic guitar workouts. The band played early, often and everywhere, with residencies at Spaceland, the Echo, and Silverlake Lounge that evidenced a visible joy that distinguished them from the often ultra-serious swarm of indie bands. Lamentably, the jubilation and jams will be far less frequent in these parts, with the band’s core trio of Evan Way (guitars, vocals), his wife, Brett Marie Way (drums, vocals), and Sam Fowles (guitar, vocals) announcing that they will be relocating back to their native Oregon. – LA Times

8:30pm / $7 / 21+

There’s a surge of artists trying bring back the sounds of the past but they rarely all succeed. Unless you’re a band like Los Angeles’ Casxio, putting the funk back into the disco but still maintaining a modern rock vibe and look is pretty difficult to do. Casxio’s lyrics may be simple and easy to remember but it’s the melodies that are attached to phrases such as “I just wanna have sex with you” that save them from coming off as retro-wannabes.

This quartet of talented musicians have found a way to highlight naughty urges in a refreshing and infectious light. Those who usually don’t step out of the boundaries in regards to the tapping their feet or bopping their heads at shows suddenly find themselves in a groove that takes them so deep into the beats, they realize they’ve become one of those spastic, writhing bodies out on the dance floor. – Beat Crave

With:
SeanShan

8:30pm / $8 / 21+

True, unapologetic modern rock and roll with folk influences, Eastern Conference Champions is a bit unique in their approach, tweaking their style from track to track. At times they highlight the “let the choir sing” angle (if only with their instruments), while at other times they work the subtle backbone component that is percussion. Smart music for a generation that’s been ready for it. – Beat Crave

ECC are set to make a comeback, as we highlight the strength of this 5 song EP and their recent inclusion on the Twilight: Eclipse soundtrack. The group beat out over 400 bands for that gig! What you will find on Santa Fe is that the trio has definitely grown in sound, as they have a much more focused and complete rock foundation that ebbs, flows and builds larger sound structures. This is all good news, as we anticipate their new full length Speak-Ahh slated for release this fall. Santa Fe is merely a good catch up of where they have been and won’t disappoint! – The Fire Note

With:
Come On Go With Us || Listen
The Pity Party || Listen

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Typhoon || Listen || Watch

Capturing Typhoon’s epic live presence on record would seem an impossible task. In person, the Portland collective is both joyful and dark, subtle and—with around 10 members at most shows—entirely overwhelming in its explosiveness. Between the sweat and the choir—everyone in the band sings—Typhoon shows can feel like I’d imagine church feels for religious people. It’s soul-stirring. It would seem to be an experience that no compact disc or vinyl record could hold. And none has, until Hunger and Thirst. – WWeek

With:
Y La Bamba

8:30pm / $8 / 21+

In what seemed like an attempt by Geffen to make a “big” pop record and endear Keene to an audience wider than critics and a small cult of discerning record buyers, renowned producer Geoff Emerick (Elvis Costello, Beatles) only succeeded at rounding the edges, thus stealing the spark from Keene’s performance. The drums are buried in the mix and Keene’s distinctive vocals obscured behind a wash of studio processing, but fortunately, Keene’s talent shines through in memorable songwriting and biting guitar solos. “In Our Lives” and “Goldtown” are classic Tommy Keene melodic power rockers, while “The Story Ends” stands among his best Beatlesque ballads. But the infectious “Places That Are Gone,” which opens side one, sounds awkwardly sped up and doesn’t come close to matching the quiet intensity of the version that appeared as the title track of the 1984 Dolphin EP. The story has it that Geffen rejected the original Songs From the Film sessions, produced by T-Bone Burnett and Don Dixon, to make this record, although the label at least momentarily came to their senses and released tracks from those sessions later that year on the excellent Run Now EP. [Geffen's 1998 CD reissue of Songs from the Film includes the Run Now EP, plus four previously unreleased songs: "Take Back Your Letters," "We're Two," an alternate full-band take of "Faith in Love" and a live cover of the Flamin' Groovies' "Teenage Head."] – All Music review of “Songs From The Film”

With:
Threes and Nines || Listen
Check Out Girls

8pm / $8 adv, $10 dos / 21+

“…Midnight Matinee is a kaleidoscope of orchestral flourishes, psych-pop contagiousness, fuzzed-out rock, wilting country winks, and even the occasional detour into noise. It’s an ADHD modus operandi that probably shouldn’t work, but thanks to watertight songwriting, is miraculously cohesive.” -Flagpole

“Midnight Matinee is full of exuberant indie-pop tunes that take some of the spacey and rocking moments of earlier Wilco records and ditch the country influences in favor of soaring pop hooks a la James Mercer of the Shins… In the end, Midnight Matinee ends up something like a well-attended benefit show: fun you can feel good about.” -Bradley Occhipinti, Have You Heard?

With:
George Glass || Listen
Verb the Adjective Noun || Listen

8:30pm / 21+

Hailing from San Diego, Earthless comprises the talents of Mario Rubalcaba, Mike Eginton and Isaiah Mitchell. Rubalcaba has banged on the cans for a host of left coast icons including Rocket from the Crypt, Hot Snakes, and the criminally undersung ’90s artcore pinups remembered as Clikitat Ikatowi. With such strong and lasting ties to the Gravity Records phenom, it’s interesting to consider how the fabulous sloppiness that gave that label’s roster a large part of its appeal has now given way to the kind of technical precision needed to pull off the hammer-pulsed fury of Earthless.

Rhythms from a Cosmic Sky sticks to (by the band’s own admission) the same formula of their previous outings – Japanese psychedelic guitar heroics crossed with Krautrock’s experimental underpinnings. The first part of that equation is most evident in the album’s three tracks, with a heavy debt paid to Japan’s High Rise in “Godspeed.” (Which features five individual “movements,” though at the end of the day really just bashes skulls in glorious repetition for slightly south of half an hour.) Nearly identical turf is danced mightily upon in “Sonic Prayer,” which bruises limbs and bloodies eardrums for a similar duration. “Cherry Red,” by comparison a hastily delivered Groundhogs cover, makes no less of a statement. – Dusted Reviews

With:
Crom || Listen
Bastard
LSDJ’s

8:30pm / $10 / 21+

Modern punk bands have been adding scratchers, samples, and other ‘hip-hop’ elements to try to evolve the genre, but SPEEDBUGGY instead has turned to our American musical roots. “Punk rock and old country mixed easily. We cover Hank Williams, Buck Owens, and George Jones… it’s kind of strange to see kids jumping off stage… during a cover of I Saw the Light.” The band has already completed three national tours (including Bad Religion, Punk Rock Karaoke tours) and have released three albums. Their hard work is paying off as people realize more and more that SPEEDBUGGY may just be the best new cow-punk band in the nation. – Happy Magazine

8:30pm / $8 / 21+

Neil Hamburger

If Neil Hamburger wasn’t the Funniest Man in America, why would the record company keep letting him make so many albums? Can’t answer that question, can you? No, it’s beyond dispute, he is the funniest. End of debate. Don’t even mention Jack Kevorkian, Neil is waaaaay, waaaaaaaay more side-splittingly hilarious, and he’s a much bigger bummer. And he’s got a million of ‘em – why, if one of his jokes falls flat or makes you groan or feel like gagging, or say the next 80 or 90 “gags” don’t exactly make you howl with uproarious laughter, just wait, because Neil will pounce with just a killer, killer line that will make you pee in your pants and nudge the guy next to you so he spills his drink (and when he hits you, that’ll be funny too). You’ll be glad you shelled out your money and chose to spend your time, on a Sunday night, no less, with America’s funny man, Neil Hamburger. – LA Weekly

With:
Steve Agee
Major Entertainer Mike H
Keith Lowell Jensen

8:30pm / $8 / 21+

True, unapologetic modern rock and roll with folk influences, Eastern Conference Champions is a bit unique in their approach, tweaking their style from track to track. At times they highlight the “let the choir sing” angle (if only with their instruments), while at other times they work the subtle backbone component that is percussion. Smart music for a generation that’s been ready for it. – Beat Crave

ECC are set to make a comeback, as we highlight the strength of this 5 song EP and their recent inclusion on the Twilight: Eclipse soundtrack. The group beat out over 400 bands for that gig! What you will find on Santa Fe is that the trio has definitely grown in sound, as they have a much more focused and complete rock foundation that ebbs, flows and builds larger sound structures. This is all good news, as we anticipate their new full length Speak-Ahh slated for release this fall. Santa Fe is merely a good catch up of where they have been and won’t disappoint! – The Fire Note

Moving Picture Show
Joel Michalak

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah Harmer’s Oh Little Fire is a collection of poppy tracks that earns its title—failing to ignite any blazing passions, these songs instead evoke the familiar warmth of a smoldering campfire. Harmer’s alt-country gets a radio-friendly make-over here at the hands of Metric producer Gavin Brown, who bolsters the singer’s unembellished vocals with a swell of blustery horns here (“I Think I Will Sail”), a little lap steel guitar there (“Silverado”). Little Fire‘s lead single, “Captive,” is perhaps Harmer’s greatest misstep, a blandly shimmering sugar-pill-of-a-song in which the singer’s delivery sounds more like producer Brown’s other leading lady, Emily Haines, than Harmer herself. In fact, one of the prevailing characteristics of these eleven songs is that they mostly lack a distinctive style, erring instead toward the kind of spiceless pleasantness that would make Harmer’s music easy to slip into pop-country radio rotation. The real treasures here are her lyrics, in which she confronts such themes as regret and self-absorption with a maturity that sets her apart from the rest of the “accessible” crowd. “I’ve left it so long / Coasting along / But I know I was wrong,” she sings on “Careless.” Oh Little Fire won’t top any year-end lists, but its thoughtfulness, packaged in these worn-in and unfussy arrangements, would make any of this album’s tracks a welcome respite from the puerile sentiments and diva posturing of Harmer’s pop-country contemporaries. – Paste Magazine

With:
Bahamas
Old Californio

8:30pm / $15 / 21+

MUCCA PAZZA || Listen || Watch

These days we’re more interested in fluidity, individuality … surprise. And that’s what Mucca Pazza offers: an entire program of tunes–some original, others plucked from far and wide across the canon–that express playfulness and joy, that embrace the unexpected. Their influences run riot from middle-eastern rhythms to alt-rock headbanging. (The Chicago Reader calls them a “gypsy punk-rock marching band,” which is as on the money as anything else I’ve heard.)

The paradox, of course, is that this seeming chaos is achieved only through backbreaking discipline; there’s improvisation here, sure, but at times the dizzying meticulousness of these musicians can’t help bursting through, as in a dizzyingly long fermata just before the concluding measure of Shostakovitch’s Trio in E-flat, during which each player remained poised for the next note, which, tantalizingly, just kept … on … not … coming. Soon the audience was roaring and clapping and happily hooting (recalling Oscar Wilde: “The suspense is terrible; I hope it will last”)–till after more than two minutes (I was timing it with my iPhone stopwatch) they suddenly they plunged back in with absolutely military precision, and ended the piece. – The Huffington Post

With:
Cobra Lillies || Listen

8:30pm / $10 advance, $12 day of show / 21+

The seven knights of the pop apocalypse, or seven guys from Reims, France? This many-headed ensemble come to show the world that those of the Gallic persuasion can do folk too — it’s not only Gainsbourg or Daft Punk. They certainly don’t subscribe to the usual traditions of French pop. The Bewitched Hands on the Top of our Heads (or the Bewitched for short) formed the group as a side-project and it’s led to a brand of catchy melodic pop where psychedelic vocal harmonies crossover with folk. – Spinner

With:
Revolver || Listen

For More Information: http://www.oohlalafestival.com/

8:30pm / $10 advance, $12 day of show / 21+

For More info: culturecollide.com

8:30pm / $20 for festival pass / 21+

For More info: culturecollide.com

8:30pm / $20 for festival pass / 21+

For More info: culturecollide.com

8:30pm / $20 for festival pass / 21+

With very little fanfare, Alabama-bred Remy Zero have done the near impossible–they’ve squeezed some originality and drop-dead beauty out of the standard guitar band format. Of course, Radiohead excels at precisely the same thing, so it’s no wonder they are big fans of Remy Zero themselves. But Remy Zero are no mere Radiohead copyists. Villa Elaine their second release is both strikingly original and thoroughly compelling in vision–an album in the old sense of the word, not merely a collection of songs.

“Hollow” combines pure Queen pomp with shades of end of the millennium anxiety. “Life In The Rain” is the most subtle and affecting rock song I’ve heard this year–mixing complex dynamics and layering ala OK Computer with an impassioned vulnerability. The music is carefully composed, stunning artrock that ranks alongside Radiohead and The Verve in its quality and Cinjun Tate’s strong emotive voice is rather akin to Thom Yorke crossed with Freddie Mercury–both outstanding singers in a genre that doesn’t boast many great singers. It’s a shame that Villa Elaine has been so roundly ignored because Remy Zero have proven here that they most assuredly belong in the big leagues. – Pop Matters

With:
Sanders Bohlke || Listen

Click to buy tickets

8pm / $13adv; $15dos / 21+

Bettie Serveert’s new album Pharmacy of Love probably isn’t going to get its due for what it is: a solid, consistent album that sounds like the all-out rock recording the Dutch indie veterans have wanted to make all along. Whoever came up with the bright idea to hype Bettie Serveert as the next big thing in the early ‘90s did them a disservice, since overblown expectations and misperceptions of the group were set with its evergreen debut, Palomine. As revisionist history would have it, either the band is a punching bag for everything that went wrong with the pre-Internet alt-rock feeding frenzy or they’re tragically misunderstood and underappreciated. Unable to ever completely escape the shadow cast by the strong first impression it made, Bettie Serveert turned from most-likely-to-succeed into could-have-beens, then somehow became underrated along the way.

The band itself hardly seems weighed down by either history or baggage on Pharmacy of Love, the worthwhile product of an unexpectedly durable and workmanlike career. Wherever critics and fans come down on the new album, everyone should be able to agree that it’s a return to form in the artistic direction it takes, finding original members Carol van Dyk, Peter Visser, and Herman Bunskoeke recovering their rock attitude. Beyond just regaining its footing or rediscovering a formula that worked well once, the group comes off the most confident and determined it has ever been, after spotty forays into more “mature” and atmospheric sounds for much of the last decade. – Pop Matters

8:30pm / $13 advance, $15 day of show/ 21+

After logging more than a year’s worth of solo shows, David Bazan is playing with the largest backing band of his career. So it makes sense that he’d want to chronicle the experience. The ensemble’s day of live tracking in Chicago, however, is more than just a document of the tour’s set list — the disc plays like a David Bazan greatest hits collection (though representation of early Pedro the Lion is absent). The band rarely deviates from the songs’ studio versions, focusing instead on airtight execution. Without additional production, Bazan’s husky voice sounds especially raw, making his tales of Man vs. God all the more real. This record achieves the rare feat of being both a collector’s item for tour-going fans and a great introduction for new listeners. – In This Week

With:
Wye Oak || Listen

8:30pm / $15 advance, $17 day of show / 21+

Valient Thorr || Listen || Watch

Valient Thorr seem to be angling for a position at the head of a marching mob; their combination of punk-rock speed, crushing riffs, screaming solos and anti-The Man lyrical sloganeering is a compelling and forceful one. The MC5 did this pretty well back in 1970, but Valient Thorr do it just as strong. They’re smarter than they pretend to be, synthesizing obvious influences (everyone from Bon Scott-era AC/DC to Turbonegro) into a pummeling roar, over which frontman Valient Himself rants about the cops and the conspiracy that keeps us all slaves. Their MySpace page lists David Icke, Alex Jones, Wilhelm Reich and Nikola Tesla as influences. Google those names while you rock out to this killer slab of plastic. Valient Thorr won’t save the world, but they’ll shake your candyass loose for you. – Alternative Press

With:
Red Fang || Listen

8:30pm / $10 advance, $12 doors / 21+

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

More or less the Mike Watt of metal, Joe Preston could pretty much retire at this point, content in the knowledge that he’s done the realm of heavy music an invaluable service: He’s played in The Melvins, Earth, and High On Fire. Lately, though—besides pitching in some keyboards for Sun O)))—the bassist has been working on his 15-years-and-counting solo project, Thrones. With a long trail of 7-inches, EPs, and albums behind him, Preston has used Thrones as free-range guinea pig for his textural, experimental playing. – AV Club

With:
Christian Mistress

8:30pm / $8 / 21+

Reigning Sound || Listen || Watch

The Reigning Sound was born in Memphis, TN. Its daddy was a Flash & The Memphis Casuals 45 and its mother a Barbara Pittman single. Life was not easy for this musical what-not. Kids shunned it for its rock`n’roll sensibility and obvious lack of polished shtick. In true stepchild fashion though, the band continued to develop a unique sound all it’s own that didn’t really focus on any of the preconceived genres. Within weeks they found their audience and were shakin’ down the house at clubs all over town. “Hail, Hail Rock ‘n’ Roll and fuck your prefab garage” appears to be some sort of battle cry for them. This from their leader Greg Cartwright whose previous bands The Oblivians & Compulsive Gamblers were so closely linked to the “Garage Punk” stereotype of ten years ago. “We were never really like most of the other bands” says Greg.” I covered R&B, gospel or country songs with absolutely no regard for any 60′s aesthetic or sound, I just enjoyed finding an obscure song and breathing some new life into it.” This same instinct for a truly inspired cover or a genius original can be found in the Reigning Sound. Greg is aided by bass player Jeremy Scott, organist/guitarist Alex Greene and drummer Greg Roberson.

8:30pm / $10 advance, $12 day of show / 21+

The `bigger is better’ approach may fly with the U.S. black metal crowd, but for the better part of a decade, Los Angeles/New York duo metal duo Black Cobra have needed only one guitar and one set of drums to make as rowdy and booming a sound as possible. Jason Landrian’s guitar has been more than loud and thunderous enough to make up for whatever they’re lacking in bass, as its wall of fuzz practically absorbs whatever space is left in each song. It’s a simple set up, but as evident on albums like 2007′s Feather and Stone, it’s proven more than enough for the duo to create some of the hardest rocking doom `n’ roll in the land.

With Chronomega, the group’s first album on Southern Lord, Black Cobra haven’t messed with a good thing. Landran and Rafael Martinez still deal heavily, pun intended, in the sludgy stuff, ripping through nine dense and kickass slabs of murky riffs and pounding rhythms. It’s all churning low end and fierce howls, but Chronomega is also a surprisingly catchy set of tunes, at times recalling the radio-friendly bubblegum doom of Torche, albeit with stronger leanings toward the likes of Electric Wizard or High on Fire. “Negative Reversal” leaps forth from the speakers like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse out on a joyride, or Two Horsemen, I suppose. “Machine” chugs with all pistons firing, the repetitive scratch of Landran’s guitars approximating heavy machinery. “Chronosphere” finds Landran jabbing his lightning riffs against a steady march, while “Lightning In His Hand” is an epic marathon of crunch. – Treble

With:
Ancestors || Listen
Black Math Horseman || Listen
Imaad Wasif || Listen

8:30pm / $12/ 21+

The Lovetones || Listen || Watch

After opening with an instrumental introduction The Lovetones launch into Navigator. Having both a twelve string and six string guitar played helps differentiate and layer the two guitar parts. Matthew Sigley drives home both full bodied baselines and soulful organ parts steadily throughout the night and it’s easy to see him as the back bone of the band. Meanwhile Matthew Tow is the head and heart his songwriting having been compared to that of Lennon/McCartney and Ray Davies. However I find a closer comparison is to fellow Sydney sider and The Church frontman Steve Kilbey, with his thoughtful words echoed in the Lovetones daydream pop.

The Lovetones produce catchy pop that is simply easy to like immediately upon hearing it, with beautiful tracks like Journeyman from their latest album. The dancers at the front come out to play for the impossibly catchy Stars, “She’s got stars inside her head, but a very long way to go.” Tow brings out a reworked track from his days in the Brian Jonestown Massacre with A New Low In Getting High and I am forced to commend whoever did sound because the mix is next to flawless. – Faster Louder

With:
The Asteroid #4 || Listen
The Quarter After || Listen
Black Rainbow

8:30pm / $8 / 21+

Joe Pug || MP3

“While most singer/songwriters are content to warble out a few semi-clever turns of phrase, Pug’s scorching poetry and soulful, ‘every phrase could be my last’ voice will stop you cold. If you want to read the actual endorsement, touch the braille stretching up my arms. Twenty years from now, lazy journalists will compare every halfway decent songwriter to Joe Pug. Mark my words.” – Jason Killingsworth, Deputy Editor, Paste Magazine

“One of the most surprising facts about singer-songwriter Joe Pug is that he’s only 23 years old. Not only does Chicago-based singer have a beautifully mature voice, but the lyrics on Pug’s debut EP, Nation of Heat, possess wisdom seemingly beyond his age.” – NPR

“Even if the words singer-songwriter make you groan and cringe, I dare you to come to the Hideout to see Joe Pug and not develop goosebumps…His star is rising so catch him while you can.” – Time Out Chicago

“Fans of quality songwriting need to hunt down a copy of Nation of Heat.” – My Old Kentucky Blog

8:30pm / $10 / 21+

White Denim || Listen || Watch

Austin three-piece White Denim continue to make a case for the guitar-bass-drums trinity as rock’s holiest formation. They may not boast the sheer virtuosity of the Jimi Hendrix Experience – even if drummer Josh Block would probably give Mitch Mitchell a run for his money – but they do possess the telepathic rapport, economy and howling intensity of all the best rock threesomes.

Nominally White Denim are still a garage rock band but the joy of Fits is in the way they audaciously chance their arm at numerous other genres: prog, psychedelia, post-punk, country pop and even tropicália. There’s a thrilling discrepancy between their circumstances – they still record in Block’s caravan – and their ambition.

It’s a rare pleasure to hear a band so at ease with themselves, playing with no obvious aim or agenda beyond having a good time and hoping you do, too. The best thing about Fits is imagining how incredible these songs will be when played live. See you down the front. – Uncut

8:30pm / $12 advance, $14 day of show / 21+

Better still, and undoubtedly Thing’s main highlights, are the record’s two main focal points ‘Heaven’s Gate’ and ‘Apparent Horizon’. Where the latter takes on a more acrobatic looped workout like early Kraftwerk or Daft Punk at their most experimental, the former erupts amidst a heavy melange of noisy guitars and squalid breaks that is totally off kilter with anything else on the record, therefore fully cementing Trans Am’s reputation as one of the most unique outfits of their generation.

Ultimately Thing is an album that exceeds expectations, not to mention revealing new trajectories with every subsequent listen. Whether a heavy indulger or casual fan of electronically based music, it’s hard to envisage a better record than Thing emerging from any of its sub-genres this year. A bold statement for sure, but one that will ring true when December 31st’s bells bring 2010 to a close. – Drowned in Sound

With:
Nice Nice || Listen
Jonas Reinhardt || Listen

8:30pm / $12 advance, $14 day of show / 21+

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin || Listen || Watch || MP3

After giving us an early preview back in December, Missouri indie pop outfit Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin will officially unveil its Chris Walla-produced third studio album Let it Sway on August 17th via Polyvinyl. Normally, we now segue into an issued description of the album, something about how the 12-track effort promises to marry “the bedroom charm of the band’s debut Broom, the adrenaline found on Pershing, and highlights the band’s live sound to yield the most accessible SSLYBY album yet.” But SSLYBY has given us something more, a bit more first person.

In this exclusive “making of” documentary, singer/guitarist Philip Dickey chronicles the back story of the band and the recording process behind Let it Sway and reveals how episodes like playing with Free Energy, saying goodbye to an old van, and teaching a dog how to drive stick led the way to the creation of the effort. You’ll also be pleasantly surprised at the origin of the album’s title. – Consequence of Sound

with:
The Lonely Forest

8:30pm / $8 advance, $10 day of show / 21+